The Korean Wave star, Bae Yong-joon's annual income was revealed to be around 43.2 billion-won (~$US 43,200,000).

A cable channel, tvN's "E-News" released a list of annual incomes of a number of celebrities and Bae Yong-joon was ranked 1st in the list.

The annual income in the list included their guarantees from their dramas, films, commercial advertising, and earnings from shares and estates.

Bae Yong-joon is a large stockholder of a Kosdaq's enterprise, Kist; and had won the "Best actor of the Year" with his drama "The Legend" last year and is currently appearing in 5 commercial advertisements.

Subsequently, the world star, Rain and Boa, who is busily working in Japan earned about 25 billion-won (~$US 25,000,000) and 18.3 billion-won (~$US 18,300,000) respectively, ranked in 2nd and 3rd.source credit to :hancinema , yahoo korea

Actor and singing sensation, Rain, recently won the Korean Image Didimdol Award for being at the forefront of Korean pop-culture and introducing it to the world.

The 26-year-old, who’s real name is Jeong Ji-Hoon, attended the ceremony dressed very stylishly, with his long hair tied pinned under a felt hat. Rain received the Korean Image Didimdol Award the ‘CICI Korea 2008’ event that was held on February 19th at the Intercontinental Hotel’s grand ballroom in Samseong-dong, Seoul.

This year marked ‘CICI Korea’s’ 4th awards ceremony and Rain said, ‘I think of my mom every time I win an award. The award I received today means more to me than any international award that I have won. This is a great honor, and I am grateful."

CICI’s chief director Choi Jeong-Hwa stated on behalf of Rain’s award winning saying, “Rain rightfully won the award. He appeared as one of ‘TIME Magazine’s Top 100 Most Influential People’ and entered the heart of America’s pop-culture as the top Asian star, introducing the Korean pop-culture to the world.”

Thursday, February 28, 2008

Four female leading stars, each representing their respective generations, will heat up the TV screen in 2008.

First up is 40-year-old Korean talent, Choi Jin-Shil. She will star in the MBC weekend drama . She returns to television from an 8-month hiatus after finishing the drama .

is an intricate love story about a bright and cheerful woman named Hong Seon-Hi and a top star named Song Jae-Bin, that all begins at their high school reunion. Movie star Jeong Jun-Ho is to play Choi Jin-Shil’s counterpart.

Son Ye-Jin is a top star in her twenties, highly reviewed as the next talented star after Choi Jin-Shil to return to the television screen. After her role in the 2006 SBS drama , Son Ye-Jin makes a huge transformation in this year’s movie , receiving recognition in the entertainment industry as an excelling actress. Her next production is , an MBC drama to be aired beginning in May.is about the passion of local news reporters in their pursuit of the truth and the complications involved with the selection process of reporters. The drama is attracting much attention as Son Ye-Jin plays Kim Eun-Hye, a character based on a former MBC reporter.

Kim Jeong-Eun is a beautiful actress in her thirties, and regarded as one of the most talented actresses on the TV screen to return in June. Kim Jeong-Eun is to star in the drama , a production by CJ Entertainment. This will be her first debut after the 2006 hit drama .Kim Jeong-Eun’s counterpart roles are to be played by Lee Seon-Gyun and Ji Hyeon-Woo, two male stars capturing the hearts of women in their twenties and thirties.

In the latter half of 2008, Korea’s top teen star Moon Geun-Yeong is to return to television. Moon Geun-Yeong chooses the SBS drama to make her comeback in 5 years.

This drama takes place during the Joseon Jeongjo period, portraying the life and love of two artistic geniuses, Shin Yun-Bok and Kim Heung-Do. Moon Geun-Yeongraised the interests of television viewers, as she plays the part of Shin Yun-Bok, awomandisguisedas a male.The four top stars become the center of attention as they begin to make their appearances on television sets once again.

Monday, February 25, 2008

Yoon Eun Hye for sure will be the most prominent advertised face in the beginning of 2008. This is the result of a new tide of numerous products' makers, who weren't hesitate at all in paying out top dollars to invite this lovely actress to be their newest spokesperson.

After the Samsung fridge's advertisements came out and have had positive feedbacks from the consumers, Yoon Eun Hye became a familiar household name. Recently, Yoon Eun Hye has re-appeared with the new product advertisements for the famous sunglasses' company: Ray-Ban. The representative of Ray-Ban brand said, "The youthful and charming image of Yoon Eun Hye is really compatibles with our company's new product lines. We hope these new products will capture a fair market share in the young consumers' division."

Seems like there's no need for her to worries about acting, Yoon Eun Hye is still doing very well with the incoming flood of advertising contracts. Even so, we hope she won't neglect her main function of an actress, which is to appears in various dramas or movies.Source: http://krfilm.net/f/t-13809-1-1.kstEtrans: Jess@KST_CICHLID

20th Century Fox Korea said Daniel Henney has been cast as 'Agent Zero' for the 'Weapon X' program. Agent Zero is a mysterious character who has the ability to control electricity.

'X-Men Origins' is a prequel to the existing X-Men films, introducing how Wolverine was created as well as exploring his violent and romantic past and his relationship with Sabretooth. The film also introduces in detail the 'Weapon X' program.

Director Gavin Hood, who received the 2005 Academy Award for Best Foreign Film for 'Tsotsi,' is directing the film which is currently being shot in New Zealand.

Sunday, February 17, 2008

Actor/singer Kim Jung-hoon will resume his singing career by releasing his fourth single album entitled "Tears" in Japan on Feb. 20.

The album contains three tracks, two cheerful ones befitting the atmosphere of the spring and a melancholy one.

Kim will hold an event in Tokyo on Feb. 27 to mark the release of the album. On March 1, he will hold two fan meetings and high-touch events in Shibuya, Tokyo.

Kim drew attention for his excellent acting skills in the TV drama "Princess Hours" and in October last year released the album "Eternity." He also successfully held his first solo concert tour in Japan, which covered Fukuoka, Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya and Sapporo and which brought him wider recognition as an artist.

After releasing his fourth single album and holding fan meetings in Japan, Kim will finally return to Korea.

Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Japanese fans have officially launched a fan club for Korea's top actress Choi Ji-woo, who has led the Korean wave by starring in hit TV dramas such as 'Winter Sonata', 'Beautiful Days' and 'Stairway to Heaven.'

The name of the fan club is 'Lily,' a flower which fans say well-represents Choi's pure and innocent image.

The official website of the fan club will open on March 1 after a pilot run. In the summer, the website will organize various events in which the actress will take part.

On lunar New Year's day, Choi unveiled a new year's message which she personally wrote on the website.

She also left a video message for her Japanese fans expressing her happiness over the launch of her long-awaited Japanese fan club. In her message, she also promised the fans that she will work hard to show her true self through 'Lily' and hoped she would be able to meet them in person soon.

Singer and actor Rain is set to launch his career in the United States. He recently signed a contract with William Morris Agency in Hollywood.

Rain's management agency said it has decided to join hands with an internationally renowned agency WMA. The two agencies will hold a press conference at Lotte Hotel in Seoul.

The press conference will be attended by officials from WMA and Warner Brothers and formally announce Rain's activities in the United States, including the opening of 'Speed Racer', a film featuring Rain.

WMA boasts a 100-year-old history, helping legends like Elvis Presely and Marilyn Monroe rise to stardom. It has also discovered actors, writers and directors that eventually took part in hollywood blockbuster films like 'Spiderman 3', 'X-Men' and 'Kill Bill'. In addition, the agency took part in producing and distributing popular TV shows like '24', 'Lost' and 'American Idol'.

International stars like Jennifer Lopez, Janet Jackson, Alicia Keys and Eminem also belong to the WMA.

Wednesday, February 6, 2008

Up-and-coming actor Shin Dong-wook has appeared in a Japanese TV drama as a detective.

In the drama, Shin says all his lines in Japanese, which he says helped him realize that language is just a means of communication and which had opened a new world to him.

Shin says he felt comfortable using Japanese while shooting the drama because the Japanese and Korean languages have much in common. The actor added that unlike Korean dramas, which are shot quickly but have longer scenes, Japanese dramas have shorter scenes and thus require more concentration.